Low pressure developed in the lee of the Rockies on the morning of December 1st and quickly moved across the plains toward Wisconsin during the day, reaching the state by the early morning hours of the December 2nd.
A large area of moderate to heavy snow ahead of the approaching low dropped 5 to 8 inches of snow across most of northeast Wisconsin. As the snow diminished, precipitation changed to sleet and freezing rain, but the accumulation of mixed precipitation was generally light.
Snow accumulations at official National Weather Service climate reporting sites were: 7.0 inches at Rhinelander (Oneida Co.), 6.0 inches at Green Bay (Brown Co.) and 6.5 inches at Wausau (Marathon Co.). Other locations with high snowfall totals included 9.3 inches near Waupaca (Waupaca Co.), 9.2 inches at Aurora (Florence Co.) and 8.6 inches at Washington Island (Door Co.) and near Colby (Marathon Co.).